Enter your search terms Submit search form

Web www.automotive-guide.net
Email to friend
Print this page
As PDF format

Automotive Guide Open Letter to Honda

By: Kenneth C. Hoffman
Automotive Guide

In spite of the recent news that the top ten cars in the United States are all made overseas, I have a few bones to pick with Honda. To be fair, except for the Continuously Variable Transmission, my Honda Civic was made in Ohio and designed by a California company.. I have been buying Hondas since 1979 and have seldom been disappointed. Their hatchbacks have been roomy, their engines always started and the mileage has been great.

The 21st Century has ushered in a new type of car, the hybrid. While not the true electric car of the future, the hybrid can cruise on the level on battery power alone for short distances, garnering almost fifty miles per gallon of low test. The main problem seems to be balancing the weight of the batteries against the amperage needed to power the car at highway speeds for a reasonable length of time. Honda decided to place the NiMh batteries vertically behind the rear seat, removing the very handy fold down rear seat.

Other car makers have solved the problem by replacing the spare tire with a flat fixer bottle of air and placing the batteries under the trunk floor. This position also improves the front to rear weight bias and allows more space for more powerful batteries. It has been years since anyone in my family has had a flat tire. This may be due to the steel belts or just better roads, I don’t know. I do know that without the fold down rear seat, I will be forced to buy a station wagon or a hatchback, neither of which is available from Honda.

Another bone I have to pick concerns the lack of home charging of the batteries. Under the guise of convenience, Honda and other hybrid makers have decided to force the driver to use their gasoline for the majority of the charging of the batteries. If future hybrids or full electric cars employ larger and more powerful batteries capable of lasting the length of a 400 mile trip, then I would like to charge the batteries with cheap home power. Even today’s hybrids should offer a choice of charging methods.

The last item on my crusade is the failure to use the area above the trunk space. I know there are SUV’s but they are too heavy and get poor mileage. I realize other manufacturers make station wagons, but many like the Mercedes, are too expensive. The new Honda Fit seems to have many good qualities but the small (1.5L) engine seems under powered. Though they get terrible mileage, older model Oldsmobile and Buick station wagons are selling at a premium. What we need is a car that does it all.

Retired portrait photographer. Do you have a comment?

Automotive Guide Tag : Honda Wagons Hybrid

Bookmark & Share :